Funny you should post about this as I have been playing the demo and find it oddly compelling. I find it pretty difficult since I know nothing about fighting fires, but the mechanics are pretty straightforward-- and as an added bonus it's enorsed by no less than SMOKEY the BEAR himself! 8)
Well, it's a RTS game in a 3d setting. THe graphics aren't great but they're not bad either. I've only played a few demo missions thus far and they seem to be more of a tutorial, but you have access to certain units that perform discrete functions. For example, in one mission you have access to a bulldozer that can dig fire breaks to prevent the spread of a fire. Supposedly wind plays a factor, but I haven't figured that one out yet. You also have access to firefighters that can put out fires, cut down trees and dig fire breaks (although much more slowly than the bulldozer). In the latest mission, I got access to a pump truck and smoke jumpers. Smoke jumpers can quickly drop into hot spots (while the regular units have to walk in). The pump truck can put out fires in tree canopies that the ground units can't reach.
It's actually pretty interesting and requires strategy as I found myself quickly losing the tutorial missions if I didn't pay attention and go in with a plan. The objectives themselves seem a bit artificial-- stop spread of fire before 50 acres burn, but it keeps the pressure on. It's nice that it's got a different focus than the usual RTS fare and it's certainly good for a diversion.
P.S. I don't have any consoles so I don't know anything about the game you mentioned zekester to compare.
I've played the demo a little, kinda cute, but here is where I get anal/weird and would love to hear from folk with the full version:
Are you limited to just 10 seeds for each of these so-called random scenarios? I love random maps but HATE the concept of limited seeds or whatever. It sounds to me as if they're saying each of these scripted "random" scenarios has only 10 variations.
LordGek wrote:I've played the demo a little, kinda cute, but here is where I get anal/weird and would love to hear from folk with the full version:
Are you limited to just 10 seeds for each of these so-called random scenarios? I love random maps but HATE the concept of limited seeds or whatever. It sounds to me as if they're saying each of these scripted "random" scenarios has only 10 variations.
Lordgek,
from the manual:
There are 360 total combinations for the random play scenarios (4 worlds X 10 seeds X 9 difficulty settings)
Seed determines where the fire(s) will start, difficulty determines what kind of scenario i.e. spot fires, save civilians, etc.
Name the 3 branches of the US Government: "Judicial, legislative....I can twerk"
That really should be more than enough but, even if there are 100's of seeds, I hate the SEED concept (maybe cute if optional but not even a big fan then). Heck, if it only had a good 20 maps it would probably be more than I'd ever really go through but I just like the CONCEPT that a random map generator being able to make tens of thousands slight variations.
